The HSUS Condemns Iowa Governor’s Power Grab on Lead Shot Rule

The following is a statement from Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, on Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s executive order to unilaterally repeal a Natural Resources Commission science-based rule to ban the use of toxic lead ammunition for dove hunting:

“It is the height of hypocrisy for Governor Terry Branstad to overrule both the legislature and the Natural Resources Commission by executive fiat and to thumb his nose at the people of Iowa. But Governor Branstad apparently believes that politics should trump science, and that anything goes if the gun lobby demands it.

After hearing all sides, the Commission, which is a body made up primarily of hunters, unanimously decided that additional toxic lead should not be pumped into Iowa’s environment during the new dove hunting season. Millions of hunters have shifted to non-toxic shot, like steel. Studies have shown that non-lead ammunition has the same or better performance as lead. This toxic substance has been removed from toys and paint, yet some hunters continue to dump this poison into the environment by the ton. One pellet ingested by an animal can induce blindness, paralysis of the intestinal tract and lungs, and organ failure.”